Gratitude, Gratitude, Gratitude

Since I won't be starting my Beyond Freedom up again until Thursday, I thought I would spend a few minutes just sharing comments about gratitude.

I have always been a spiritual person. I grew up in a Catholic home and went to Catholic school from first grade through high school. I don't remember a time when I ever doubted the existence of God or the fact that Christ was my brother and savior. This sometimes caused me grief as, even in a religious school, I felt made fun of for my beliefs and the seriousness with which I took them.

After graduating from high school, I had a powerful spiritual experience that caused me to leave Catholicism and join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have been a faithful member ever since--going on 21 years now.

Despite these experiences and my association with some amazing people, I sometimes felt my prayers were somewhat rote. And while I believed in God and Jesus Christ, looking back, I didn't feel a strong connection to them in my daily life.

I did not think anything was amiss, though. After all, I was going to church, fulfilling my church callings, and doing what I thought I was required to do.

All that changed the winter of 2006.

The first weekend in December, I attended a powerful business seminar that was about so much more than business! Our teacher, Dani Johnson, opened up her soul to us and taught us to open up our own and let success flow in. I was literally blown away by the power I felt in that seminar.

Then, on the second day, as I was driving in from where I was staying and pondering what I had learned the day before, I had the most powerful spiritual experience of my life. At that moment the heavens opened up to me and learned more about God, Jesus Christ, myself, and my purpose here on earth than I thought possible. (You can read more about what happened to me here.)

I was absolutely overcome and just started crying and crying and crying. I don't know how I managed to keep driving!

Among the things that I learned that day is the power of gratitude.

You see, in my religion, we are taught that when we pray we are to begin by thanking God for all He has given us.

For me, this meant a rote "thank you for this day, thank you for my house, thank you for my family," and then I would move into other things.

But what I learned from my vision is that your heart should be so filled with gratitude that you hardly want to get up off of your knees.

And if you really really really understand all that you have in this life, that feeling can be a constant, daily occurrence. I believe it is the true meaning of the scriptures that counsel us to "pray always" (too many references to list here).

It all makes perfect sense, really.

Imagine for a moment that you knit a sweater for someone you love. You spend time carefully picking the pattern and selecting the perfect yarn--it's more expensive than you anticipated, but, you rationalize, it's worth it for this special someone. Next you spend hours and hours and hours--every spare moment--knitting. You give up evenings out and other things that you enjoy because your heart and soul and time is consumed with love for this person and this precious gift you are creating just for them.

Finally, it's finished. You look at the sweater and admire it. My goodness, it's beautiful--what a great job you have done! You imagine what it will be like to give this person the sweater--what they will say, the expression on their face, how good it will look on them.

The day arrives when you present your gift, and you hold your breath just a little--giddy with anticipation for your loved one's reaction. Your loved one opens the gift and says...

"Yeah, um, I'm not one for sweaters," or "Ugh, that is so not my color," or "Yeah, thanks for the sweater, but what I really wanted was a sweatshirt."

How would this make you feel? And how likely would be you give this person anything else?

The pain, the disappointment, the frustration, the sadness...all those feelings are exactly what our Father in Heaven feels when we put down, show indifference, or even complain about the many wondrous gifts he has given us. Gifts that are all around, if only we have eyes to see them.

This morning as I was driving to the gym, I was overcome with gratitude for the blessings of my life. I cannot believe that I was chosen to do and experience all these amazing gifts.

My heart was so full that tears spilled out of my eyes. What a wonderful world. What a gracious and loving God. I hardly want to get off of my knees.